Tuesday, June 30, 2009

If you take a look at the Wizards schedule for the game on July 25th at home against the Galaxy, you'll notice that this game now is going to appear on ESPN2. You'll also notice that this game is starting a half an hour later now, at 8pm. This game is set to be David Beckham's second game with the Galaxy after returning from his loan to AC Milan. The first game he is officially back for, against New York on the 16th has already been taken by FSC, so this would be ESPN's first league game to show Beckham again. So for the first time since I can't remember when, the Wizards will actually have 2 home games on ESPN in one season.

The Wizards made a small trade today. Today the team traded away one of their 7 remaining international roster spots to New England for a 3rd round pick in the 2010 Super Draft. The Revolution will hold on to that roster spot for a year and a half, with the Wizards getting it back on January 1, 2011. This leaves the Wizards with 6 international spots, 3 of which are currently being used by Claudio Lopez, Santiago Hirsig, and Kevin Souter.

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Wizards get back to action on Tuesday in Minnesota when they take on the Thunder in the third round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Thunder has struggled this season, and sit at the bottom of the USL-1 table with a 1-7-4 record, 3 points behind Cleveland who is one spot above them in the table. They've only scored 10 goals in all of league play. On Saturday the Thunder lost at home to the Rochester Rhinos 2-1. In their previous US Open Cup game, they won 4-0 over Chicago Fire PDL.

With the first team playing the majority of the minutes against Santos yesterday in the SuperLiga, it's easy to assume that the majority of the roster for the game tomorrow will be the Swope Park Rangers. With the injuries and call ups the Wizards are dealing with right now, though, they'll need to have probably 2 players that got signifigant minutes yesterday play tomorrow night. The Wizards will still be without Adam Cristman and Kevin Souter due to their injuries, while it appears Chance Myers may be able to at least make the bench for the first time this season. Combine this with Jimmy Conrad, Davy Arnaud, and Roger Espinoza being called up for the Gold Cup and we'll likely see a lineup similar to this tomorrow in Minnesota.

Key Match Up - Rauwshan McKenzie vs Thunder forward - McKenzie was beaten badly yesterday against Santos, especially when he became the lone center back. Minnesota's forwards, specifically someone like Melvin Tarley will be licking their lips after seeing the video of the Santos game.

PREDICTION - The good news is that the Thunder aren't really good, so the Rangers may have a good shot at taking down their USL-1 foe. The bad news is that USL-1 sides always seem to show up against MLS teams in the US Open Cup. The Thunder defeated the Wizards in the 2005 Open Cup, while the Wizards defeated the Thunder earlier this season in a preseason friendly. Hopefully the reserves will show up looking to impress, but I'm not incredibly optismistc about the game tomorrow.

After not having an interview poll last week, the poll returns this week. This week we have three players for you to choose from. Remember to vote both here and at The Back Post. Here are this week's 3 players.

Josh Wolff - Took over captain duties when Jimmy Conrad was off the field, played every minute in SuperLiga.Rauwshan McKenzie - First minutes of the year in SuperLiga. Looks set to earn more with Conrad on national team duty.Chance Myers - Getting closer to seeing the field again, could be on the field again tomorrow in the Open Cup.

Also post any questions you have for these players in the comments section.

The performance the entire tournament was lacking, there was little dangerous attack, and poor play overall doomed the Wizards over the course of the SuperLiga tournament. That came to an end 3-1 on Sunday at Community America Ballpark to Santos Laguna. The crowd was overwhelmingly in support of the Mexican side. My guess is that there were somewhere around 9,000 Santos supporters there yesterday.

Kansas City actually had a good chance very early, when Jack Jewsbury headed a Matt Besler ball on net that Oswaldo Sanchez parried into the path of Herculez Gomez. Gomez, though, couldn't get a shot off. From there, Santos started to take over the match, and were unlucky not to take the lead, as they hit the bar twice. The Wizards too hit the cross bar, when Gomez caught Sanchez out off his line. Each team had some chances as the first half wore on, with Santos shooting high or wide, while Wolff had a nice shot saved by Sanchez. Late in the first half, the Wizards lost defender Jimmy Conrad as he re-aggravated his hamstring that has been giving him trouble lately.

At half time, the Wizards made more changes, with Lance Watson making way for Davy Arnaud and Jewsbury moving to the right back position. It was Santos though that was producing the better efforts on goal, forcing Kevin Hartman to make multiple saves. Santos finally broke through in the 61st minute as they came right up the middle of KC's defense with Agustin Herrera getting the finish. The Wizards tried to respond but were unable to find net. In the 73rd minute, KC had a foul claim turned down by the referee just outside the Santos box when Roger Espinoza was knocked off the ball. Santos countered right back down the field and Vicente Vuoso finished off the counter with a header that beat Hartman and made it 2-0 Santos. KC finally started to create some chances, but the shots they ended up getting were weak daisy cutters that were no problem for Sanchez. KC got back into the game in the 80th minute, when a Claudio Lopez free kick curled into the net to make it 2-1 KC. After that, KC continued to up the pressure and Espinoza almost equalized in the 84th minute off a pass from Michael Kraus, but Espinoza he the elbow of the post. Kruas though wouldn't have much longer to play a part as shortly after he got into an exchange with Johnny Garcia of Santos. Kraus gave Garcia a shove, and Garcia shoved back with his forearm. Both were given straight reds, the 7th straight game KC has played in where a red card has been issued.

Very late in stoppage time, KC had a brilliant chance to make it 2-2 when Michael Harrington played a cross into the back post. Santiago Hirsig had been the offside trap, took the ball down off his chest, but the Argentine couldn't get enough on his shot, which went in weakly on goal and after a small scrum in the box was covered by Sanchez. Santos came right down after that attempt by the Wizards, as Santos again countered, and Juan Pablo Rodriguez turned and finished making it 3-1.

Wizards Man of the Match - Claudio Lopez - Great free kick for the goal against Santos and looked frustrated multiple times with the quality of crosses coming from the other side of the field. It was tough to pick a player from this game just based on the way the team played. I almost picked Jimmy Conrad because with his sub, the center of defense suffered and Rauwshan McKenzie was not able to handle the Santos forward.

Friday, June 26, 2009

That's basically the key about the final SuperLiga group play game for the Wizards. A win over Mexican side, Santos Laguna, and the Wizards are into the semifinals of the tournament. Should they not win, there are still possibilities for the Wizards to go through. Santos comes into the game with 1 point in their first two games, losing 4-2 to New England and drawing 0-0 with Atlas. This game is the renewal of a minor rivalry as the Wizards had played Santos in the 2001 Copa Mercanorte and 2002 CONCACAF Champion's Cup. In the 2002 Champion's Cup, the Wizards became the first and so far only MLS side to win a home and home series with a Mexican side. Sadly this rivalry didn't continue beyond a 2003 friendly in Houston.

This is the last game that the Wizards will have Jimmy Conrad, Davy Arnaud, and Roger Espinoza as those 3 will leave to join their respective national teams for the upcoming Gold Cup. With the reserves likely set to play on Tuesday in the US Open Cup against Minnesota, I'd expect to see the first team out for this game against Santos.

Key Match Up - Wizards forwards vs Oswaldo Sanchez - The Mexican international is a favorite to taunt by US fans when the US plays Mexico, and is prone to giving up a gaff goal or two. Still at times he's a good keeper and will be hard for the Wizards to beat.

PREDICTION - The Wizards need a win, and if what has been said by the players and coaches, they are taking this seriously. I'd expect KC to come out ready to win this game. With the way that Sanchez is prone to play, if the Wizards can get one, they'll get a few more.

For those of you that missed Thad's post over at The Back Post yesterday, the last remaining wall at Bannister Mall came down yesterday. The mall is now completely gone. Over the next few weeks and months, they'll be cleaning up the site and breaking up the pad and in ground walls. Here's my album for this week of the nothingness that is left.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

With the SuperLiga and US game yesterday, it slipped my mind about 2 Juniors teams playing in the regional finals. Unfortunately, neither team was able to pull off the win this year. Both the U-13 and U-16 Juniors ended up falling 1-0 in their regional finals against the Michigan Wolves and Campton United Navy respectively. Congratulations to all the Juniors on good seasons.

A mix of starters and reserves took the field against New England last night and pulled out a 1-1 draw with the Revolution, leaving the Wizards on 2 points heading into their final group game of this year's SuperLiga. The Wizards can't seem to get away from the red cards either. For the 6th straight game, a red card was issued in a Wizards game. This time, it was to Revolution midfielder, Mike Videira for an elbow on Aaron Hohlbein as the two were going up for a header in the 34th minute. Like has been the case many times this season when going a man up, the Wizards couldn't capitalize on the extra man.

The injury depleted Revolution controled the game in the early going, with Kheli Dube forcing Kevin Hartman into an early save. Videira, before his red card was a force for the Wizards to deal with, making good runs and getting the Revolution into dangerous positions that they just couldn't finish from. After the red card, the Wizards started to come alive a bit, but still were struggling to produce any solid chances. Late in the first half, the Revolution got a goal they probably deserved, when Kenny Mansally put a partially cleared throw-in into the path of Dube who was in alone on Hartman and slotted the ball inside the post.

The second half was more of the same from the Wizards, as they struggled to put anything together offensively. Dube almost doubled the lead, but his chip was just wide of Hartman's goal. As the game wore on, though, the Revolution continued to tire and with their already depleted roster, the Wizards finally started to take advantage on the wings. Crosses started finding Wizards players in the box, and the team forced Matt Reis to make some saves. Finally in the 85th minute, the Wizards got their goal. Herculez Gomez played a great cross into Josh Wolff at the near post. Wolff missed touching the ball, but it deflected off Revolution defender, Darrius Barnes and past Reis, putting the Wizards on the board. Minutes later, the Wizards almost stole the points as Gomez again played in a good cross to Wolff whose header went wide of the post. In the end, though, the Wizards didn't deserve the full 3 points and didn't get them.

Still, the Wizards control their own destiny of advancing. Should they defeat Santos Laguna on Sunday, the Wizards will be in the semifinals. If they draw then they have to hope that the Revolution defeat Atlas, or that the Wizards score more goals than Atlas does. A loss, and the Revolution have to beat Atlas by more than what we lose by for the Wizards to advance.

Wizards Man of the Match - Herculez Gomez - He only played 27 minutes, but he probably created the best chances for the Wizards from his crosses after he came on. Before that point, the Wizards offense looked anemic and never likely to put the ball in the net.

The US has released their 23 man roster for the upcoming Gold Cup. Davy Arnaud was on the preliminary roster for the competition and is also on the final 23 man roster for the tournament. Joining Arnaud on the roster, is Wizards captain, Jimmy Conrad. Conrad is earning his first call up since 2008. It's a bit surprising to see Conrad get the call up with so much time since his last call up, along with the rumors that him and Coach Bradley had a falling out. Should the USA reach the finals, the two could miss as many as 7 games (3 league, 3 Open Cup, and SuperLiga semifinal).

This makes 3 Wizards that have been called up for the Gold Cup this year, as Roger Espinoza will be representing Honduras in the tournament. It's going to put a major strain on the Wizards, but a great honor for those 3.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The own goal by Darrius Barnes tonight not only gave the Wizards a point tonight in their SuperLiga game against New England, but it was also a historic goal. The own goal was the Wizards 700th in all competitions. This is the second time the Wizards have had a historic goal come from an own goal. In 2005, the Wizards 500th goal in all competitions came against DC United. For a list of who's scored the other historic goals for the Wizards, look here.

Here's your weekly former Wizards update, first update. Tonight, Nick Garcia, Dave van den Bergh, and Pete Marino all have games tonight, so there will be an update later tonight.

MLSNick Garcia - Toronto FC - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 6-1 win over Montreal in the Nurtilite Canadian Championship that got Toronto into the CONCACAF Champion's League. Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-0 win over New York.Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Out with a broken leg.Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Out with injury for the Crew.Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Started and played into second half stoppage time before being subbed out in LA's 2-1 loss to San Jose.Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 82 minutes, recording an assist in RSL's 1-1 draw with Houston.Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - Started and played 90 minutes in Chicago's 1-0 win over San Luis in the SuperLiga. Came off the bench in the 16th minute for Chicago in their 1-0 win over Chivas USA Tuesday in the SuperLiga.Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Tigres UANL in the SuperLiga. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas 1-0 loss to Chicago in the SuperLiga Tuesday night.Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Was on the bench but did not play in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Tigres UANL. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss in the SuperLiga to Chicago.Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 65 minutes in Dallas' 2-1 win over Columbus. Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Colorado.Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Started and played 45 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Tigres UANL in the SuperLiga. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Chicago on Tuesday.Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 1-1 draw with New York.

USLStephen Armstrong - Charleston - Still recovering from injury for Charleston.Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Started and played 70 minutes, recording an assist in Vancouver's 2-1 loss to Montreal. Started and played 56 minutes in Vancouver's 2-2 draw with Cleveland on Tuesday.Byron Carmichael - Ocean City Barons (PDL) - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Ocean City's 2-1 loss to Brooklyn, breaking the Barons record for minutes played. Started and played 90 minutes in Ocean City's 1-0 loss to Long Island.Ryan Caugherty - Austin - Came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Carolina. Dressed but did not play in Austin's 2-0 loss to Rochester.Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress for Minnesota in their 5-1 loss to Portland.AJ Godbolt - Austin - Did not dress in Austin's 1-1 draw with Carolina or their 2-0 loss to Rochester.Tom Gray - Pittsburgh (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 0-0 draw with Western Mass.Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes for Rochester in their 2-0 win over Austin.Willy Guadarrama - Austin Aztex U-23 (PDL) - Did not dress in Austin's 1-0 win over West Texas.Pat Healey - Baltimore (USL2) - Started and played 77 minutes in CPB's 2-1 win over Bermuda.Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-1 draw with Austin.Pete Marino - Treasure Coast Galleons (FESL) - Started for Treasure Coast, scoring a goal in their 4-1 loss to Juventus of St. Lucie.Ryan McMahen - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Carolina. Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Rochester.Ryan Pore - Portland - Out due to injury.Eric Quill - Houston Leones (PDL) - Did not dress in Houston's 1-0 loss to El Paso.Michael Todd - Long Island Roughriders (PDL) - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Long Island's 2-2 draw with Ottawa. Came off the bench playing 26 minutes in Long Island's 1-0 win over Ocean City.Yomby William - Richmond (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-2 draw with Charlotte.John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 loss to Puerto Rico on Thursday. Started and played 71 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 loss to Puerto Rico on Saturday.

InternationalChris Konopka - Longford Town - Ireland - Longford loss to Wexford Youth 1-0 on Saturday.Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Started and played 90 minutes in Aalesunds 3-0 loss to Rosenborg.Antti Sumiala - FC Porin Palloilijat - Off until the 4th of July.Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Quindío did not qualify for the group stage playoffs of the Apertura season of the Copa Mustang.

For the second time in the matter of a few weeks, the Wizards will take on the New England Revolution. This time, in SuperLiga. The Revolution come into the game having come from behind to beat Santos Laguna 4-2 on Sunday evening. New England is banged up again, and it looks as if three of the Revs best players will not be playing, as Sharlie Joseph, Steve Ralston, and Taylor Twellman are all listed as being out.

As for KC, they come in after the draw in the heat of summer in St. Louis. The cooler weather in the Northeast should be a welcome site to the team. The lineup for this game is hard to predict, with it being our second of 4 games in 10 days. I'd think that we're likely to see a few changes to the lineup that started against Atlas. Some players that haven't gotten much rest this season may get a chance to rest for a game, and guys with some knocks may get a rest too. That said, here's the lineup I would like to see tonight, whether we see it or not is another guess.

Key Match Up - Wingbacks vs Mansally and Nyassi - Containing the two Gambians is going to be a big task for whoever ends up in the wingback positions tonight.

PREDICTION - A win tonight by the Revolution puts them through to the semifinals, and the Wizards likely don't want to head into their final group play game needing a win to advance to the semifinals, so you can expect Coach Onalfo to come out and fight for this game. With the big guns out for the Revs and KC's success in New England in recent years, I think the Wizards have a good shot at pulling out the win tonight.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The semifinals are now over in Sioux Falls, SD and of the 3 Juniors teams that made it that far, 2 have advanced on to tomorrow's finals. The U-13 Juniors took care of business, taking care of Ambassadors out of Ohio North 6-2 today. In the finals, the 13's will take on the Michigan Wolves. The U-16's didn't win by as much, but they too advanced to the finals, beating Westside United of Indiana 1-0. In the finals, the 16's will take on the other Midwest Regional League qualifier Campton United Navy out of Illinois. The U-17's weren't as lucky though, as the Juniors fell to MLS youth team rival, Chicago Fire 1-0 in their semifinal, eliminating them from regionals.

Monday, June 22, 2009

While the Wizards team was getting ready to and taking on Atlas in SuperLiga, the 6 Wizards Juniors teams that qualified for regionals (5 state titles, 1 Midwest Regional League birth through the U-16's) were competing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Over the course of the group play round, the Juniors were a combined 12-5-1, scoring 48 goals while conceding 21. No Juniors team suffered more than 1 loss in the tournament. Of the 6 teams that made regionals, only 3 of those teams advanced to the semifinals.

The U-13's made the semifinals, going 3-0 in group play. They'll take on Ambassadors FC out of Ohio North in their semifinal. The U-15's lost their opener to Vardar, a Midwest Regional League qualifier, 2-0. The 15's recovered, winning their final 2 games, but so did Vardar, and the Michigan club advanced from their group. The U-16 team qualified for regionals through the Midwest Regional league, even though they lost in state cup. The 16's lost their second game, but were able to do well enough in their other games, and get help to advance to the semifinals, where they'll play Westside United out of Indiana.

The U-17's also got off to a slow start, losing their first game, but they too got the results the rest of the way to go their way, and they too qualified for the semifinals. In the semis, they will take on fellow MLS youth side, the Chicago Fire Juniors. In the U-18 division, the Juniors won their first game against Springfield SC. The Juniors lost their second to Javanon out of Kentucky, before winning their final game over Inter FC of Illinois. Unfortunately Javanon advanced out of their group. The U-19's lost their first game to Pike Indy Burn and had trouble recovering. They tied with Valley United out of Minnesota, before beating SD United Manchester. the U-19's finished third in their group and saw both Pike Indy and Valley United advance to the semifinals as there were only 3 groups in the U-19 division.

Tomorrow is when the U-13's, 16's, and 17's will play their semifinals. Should they win, the finals will be on Wednesday. Good luck to those 3 Juniors teams.

In the 37th minute, Kevin Hartman hit the 35,000 minute mark in all competitions, he finished with 35,053 minutes played.

Of the 15 players that saw the field yesterday, only Abe Thompson had previously played in SuperLiga. Adam Cristman has also seen the field in SuperLiga. They are the only two Wizards to play in the tournament.

The Wizards and sister club, Atlas, took a share of the points today in St. Louis as the two teams played to a rather dull 0-0 draw. KC started the same lineup that started the Wizards last two league games, as Atlas played mainly reserve players with a few first teamers sprinkled into the lineup. It was a hot day, with temperatures on the field getting to well over 100 degrees, forcing the referee to stop play once each half for a water break. "I'm sure eveyone's said some kind of adjective that's relative to the word hot. So I'll probably just keep it simple and say it was hot," Jimmy Conrad said of the conditions today. The first water break didn't come soon enough for Herculez Gomez, who soon after the first water break was subbed out due to him feeling light headed. "Ten minutes before I came out I started getting dizzy. I tried playing through it, but I couldn't," Gomez said after the game. Throughout the first half, much of the play was in the middle of the field. The best chances in the half fell to Atlas on a free kick from just outside the box. The free kick was curving into the far post, but Kevin Hartman came up with a finger tip save to touch the ball around the post. The other was on a play down the wing that was crossed back into the middle where a shot skimmed the top of the bar. As the half wore on, things got a little scrappy, with Jack Jewsbury getting into a shoving match, and Aaron Hohlbein picking up a delayed yellow. The first half also saw Atlas coach, Ricardo LaVolpe thrown out for something he said to the official.

Late in the half, the Wizards started to pick up the pressure as Atlas' preseason form started to show. Roger Espinoza and Josh Wolff both had chances but couldn't put them away. Very late in the half, the Wizards had a big penalty shout, as Wolff was brought down in the box by a hard tackle when he was 1v1 with the goalkeeper. The Atlas player also got the ball, and the referee determined that it was a clean tackle.

In the second half, the level of play continued to go down as the heat began to affect the players more and more. The game slowed down and much of the play stayed around the middle of the field with little movement. "It made for a slower game. A game that had less chances, and a game in which you have to make the most of your opportunities," Coach Onalfo said. Atlas again, though, was the agressor early in the second half and again tested Hartman. A cross by Atlas should have been the first goal, but the Atlas attacker didn't reach the ball in time. Once again, the Wizards started to pick up the play as the half wore on, and started to create more chances. Unfortunately KC yet again couldn't find the net. The Wizards got through a few times, but their shooting left a little to be desired. Abe Thompson had the best opportunity when Espinoza played him in alone on the keeper, but Thompson pushed his shot just wide of the post.

Late in the half, a Wizards corner was cleared out to Espinoza, who touched and was looking to shoot. An Atlas player slide in on Espinoza, and Espinoza went down. The referee called a foul and showed Espinoza a red card saying that Espinoza had stamped down on the Atlas player. The red card seemed extremely iffy, as Espinoza appeared to be lining up a shot when the Atlas player slid in underneath Espinoza and that's how he got cleated, nothing malicious, nothing even close to what would be considered a foul, but unfortunately, that's the way it with. Atlas never got a chance to take advantage of the man advantage as the game was called soon after.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Hartman - Another clean sheet for El Gato, and he earned it with some very big saves when he had to make them to keep the game tied.

45th - Jewsbury runs onto a ball, plays it back, but again a Wizards player can't get there in time.

HALFTIME - The Wizards started to come alive late in the half, Atlas is doing most of their attack on the wing. Be back in a few.

Halftime - The referees and players are making their way back out. I also take back my comment about no Eads Brigade people. I ran into a few during halftime. Still no where near what I would hope/expect here for the game today.

46th - no changes, Wizards kick off, second half is on.

47th - Good charging run by Watson up the right, fouled from behind, free kick for KC about 35 out.

47th Don't know what Lopez was doing but the free kick was poor.

48th- Watson cross is too long and goes out for a throw on the far side.

49th - Espinoza pulls back on the Atlas player right after he crossed the midfield line, free kick for Atlas.

51st - Through ball for Atlas, but the attacker is offside.

52nd - Lopez cross to Arnaud who chests down. Jewsbury runs on and his shot is just over the bar.

54th - Hartman claims a weak cross, but Espinoza loses the throw and Atlas is on the attack again.

56th - Partially cleared corner leads to a shot by Atlas, but the shot is wide of Hartman's post.

58th - Atlas fnas getting a little louder chanting and trying to start a waive. Meanwhile on the field Jewsbury crosses too far and out for a goalkick.

59th - Good play down the left by the Wizards, Espinoza finds Lopez, but his cross curls out. Yellow to Ricardo Jimenez for Atlas.

60th - Lopez collects 30 from goal, but his shot is blocked.

61st - Besler makes a run forward, plays a 1-2 with Wolff, but fouls the Atlas defender. It loooks like Harrington is going to be coming on.

62nd - Wolff in a 1v1 with an Atlas defender, but Wolff commits the foul.

62nd - Atlas earn a corner after getting the ball deep to KC's end.

63rd - Corner is partially cleared, and on the ball back in, Besler is fouled. Harrington is coming on for Arnaud.

64th - With the sub, Jewsbury pushes central and Harrington goes out on the right.

65th - The game has slowed a bit with the heat on the field.

66th - 1-2 with Espinoza and Harrington, but Harrington is shielded off the ball.

66th - Espinoza with a shot from long range, over the bar.

67th - Carlos gutierrez getting ready to come on. Atlas attacks down the wing again, but the cross is too far in front of the on racing Atlas forward.

67th - Harrington comes back down the right but his cross goes to no one.

68th - The Atlas player that stretched for the ball is now down behind the Wizards goal getting treatment.

68th - The injured Atlas player, Darvin Chavez is subbed out for Gutierrez.

68th - Wolff is called off after Espinoza plays the ball back for Lopez and Lopez tries to pick out Wolff.

70th - Again from long range by Espinoza, again no where really close.

71st - Harrington does a good job of beating his defender, but his through ball is deflected.

72nd - Wizards win a very deep throw on the far side.

72nd - Wolff gets through the defense puts a shot on goal, but it's not very strong and easily saved.

73rd - Saul Villalobos is coming on for Gerardo Espinoza for Atlas.

74th - Long shot from Atlas goes through for a goal kick, but a player is called offside.

76th - Wizards sub Thompson on for Besler. On the play before that, an Atlas player was called offside after a play down the Wizards right. And the referee calls a water break.

77th - Conrad getting his hamstring worked on during the water break.

79th - Lopez works down the left, but his low cross is right at the keeper, easily claimed.

81st - Thompson fouls Gutierrez right in front of the stands.

81st - Espinoza plays in Thompson with a great ball, with two defenders on him and the goalkeeper charging, Thompson puts it just wide.

82nd - Atlas counter, and ends with a shot that goes just wide. On the play Hirsig gets a yellow.

83rd - Long ball for KC but Lopez can't catch up with it, Lopez crosses, but curls out for a goalkick.

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Wizards begin their first excursion into international soccer since the 2005 CONCACAF Champion's Cup when they take on sister club, Atlas in St. Louis on Sunday. This starts a busy schedule for the Wizards as they play Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Tuesday over the next two weeks, not a friendly schedule by any means, and it will certainly test the team's depth, especially with Davy Arnaud and Roger Espinoza soon leaving for national team duty.

As for Atlas, the roster that they're bringing to SuperLiga is mainly a young roster, with a few experienced players to fill in the gaps. The biggest names on the list is probably former Mexican international, Miguel Zepeda and future Mexican national teamer Hugo Ayala. They certainly will not be a push over for the Wizards.

KC will have Arnaud and Espinoza for this game, but judging by practice this week, I doubt Arnaud will travel due to a nagging knee injury. I also doubt that Wizards captain, Jimmy Conrad will travel, due to a hamstring issue. The Arnaud issue is a little easier to cover, the loss of Conrad will definitely be a big hole in the defense for the Wizards to fill. Into that slot will likely step second year man, Rauwshan McKenzie. It looks like, at least for the first game, the Wizards will play a predominately first team lineup.

Key Match Up - Rauwshan McKenzie against his mark - I don't know a lot about Atlas' team, but with a very inexperienced center back in McKenzie (45 professional minutes played), you can expect Atlas to try and exploit that.

Prediction - Last year during preseason, the Wizards full reserve side defended a mix of Atlas first and second team players 2-1 at CAB. Hopefully a predominately first team can take it to a majority reserve Atlas side this year. Still, it'll be interesting to see how things go. If you need play by play on Sunday, check here, as I'll be in the press box providing it.

Very little remains of Bannister Mall, there is only part of Sears left. What remains is basically a shell and then the garage portion of Sears in the southwest corner. Other than that, the roof is basically all off and walls are coming down. I'd expect the rest of the mall to be down by next week. Here are all the pictures from today.

The official US roster for the Gold Cup has been released today, and as I told you yesterday, Davy Arnaud is on it. The roster has plenty of talent players on it, many of whom did not travel to South Africa and are probably looking for a chance to impress coach Bob Bradley with less than a year before the World Cup starts. Arnaud will have his work cut out for him in getting playing time with guys like Jose Torres, Freddy Adu, Benny Feilhaber and others in the center of midfield. And guys like Eddie Gaven, Stuart Holden, and Robbie Rogers who can play out wide. Arnaud will have to earn his way onto the final roster, though, as this is only the preliminary roster. The final roster will only have 23 players.

Pointed out to me in the comments section of my post yesterday about the weekly press conference, it's been confirmed that Roger Espinoza will be missing more time for the Wizards as he's been called up by Honduras for the Gold Cup. Espinoza only recently returned to the team after being called up for the recent World Cup qualifiers. Hopefully, unlike those, Espinoza will actually see the field. The tournament will run from July 3rd to the 26th. Espinoza will miss at least 2 league games, and potentially a third. He could also miss the Open Cup quarterfinals and semifinals if the Wizards advance, along with potentially missing the SuperLiga semifinal. So if Honduras were to make the finals, and the Wizards advance in all competitions, Espinoza could miss 6 games for the Wizards.

On July 8th, Espinoza's Honduran side will meet Davy Arnaud and the United States at RFK in Washington DC.

Today was the weekly press conference for the Wizards at their Swope Park training facility. During the press conference, Coach Onalfo talked about the game against New England and the up coming SuperLiga games as well. Coach is planning to use his entire depth in the tournament and the team is definitely taking it seriously. In regards to the rumors of Atlas bringing a youth team, he waived it off saying that that could make the game more dangerous as those youth players will be looking to make an impact and work for first team inclusion.

While he did mention that the Wizards would use their depth, he did say that the team will likely be without a few players. First, midfielder, Davy Arnaud has apparently been called up by the United States for the upcoming Gold Cup. Arnaud's been considered one of the more underrated players in the league. He's been capped twice for the United States in his career and will now get a chance to earn a few more call ups for the US.

Roger Espinoza is also probably going to likely be missing as well, because as mentioned previously, he was on the Honduran preliminary roster for the tournament. With Espinoza's call ups, but not appearances for Honduras in World Cup qualifying, it seems likely that Espinoza will earn the call up and likely get a few matches for Honduras in the tournament.

Also missing for the Wizards, will be Kevin Souter, who Onalfo mentioned has had a sports hernia surgery and will miss some time as that heals up. This is a blow for Souter, who was likely to get plenty of time over the next two weeks, with SuperLiga and Open Cup games coming up.

Jack Jewsbury was the player for this week's press conference, with the Atlas game in St. Louis, where Jewsbury went to school. Jewsbury's first question today came from teammate Kurt Morsink, who asked Jewsbury about his return to St. Louis and the stadium where he played his college career, which was good for a laugh.

US Soccer has announced the potential quarterfinal pairings for this year's US Open Cup. Should the Wizards advance past Minnesota, they would play on July 7th against the winner of the Northwest derby between Seattle and Portland. If Seattle wins that match up, the Wizards will travel to Seattle and play the Sounders at the Starfire Sports Complex. Should Portland win, they will travel to KC and play the Wizards at Shawnee Mission North HS.

The game will fall between two league games on the 4th at home against Houston and in New England on the 11th.

I'm late getting the former Wizards update up, but it means I can get this update up without needing a later update as the game in Seattle game tonight is now over.

MLSNick Garcia - Toronto FC - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 win over New York.Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Out with a broken leg.Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Out with injury for the Crew.Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in LA's 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake.Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in RSL's 2-0 win over LA.Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - On the bench but did not play in Chicago's 2-1 loss to DC.Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Columbus.Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Columbus.Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 79 minutes in FC Dallas' 3-1 loss to Houston.Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Did not dress for Chivas in their 2-1 loss to Columbus.Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 2-1 win over San Jose. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 3-3 draw with DC tonight.

USLStephen Armstrong - Charleston - Still recovering from injury for Charleston.Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Vancouvers 3-2 win over Miami FC.Byron Carmichael - Ocean City Barons (PDL) - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Ocean City's 1-0 win over Westchester. Started and played 120 minutes for Ocean City in their 1-0 upset win over Real Maryland in the US Open Cup.Ryan Caugherty - Austin - Dressed but did not play in Austin's 4-1 loss to Puerto Rico on Friday. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Miami FC. Did not appear in Austin's 2-0 win over El Paso in the US Open Cup.Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 2-0 win over Carolina. Did not play in Minnesota's 4-0 win over Chicago Fire PDL in the US Open Cup.AJ Godbolt - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 4-1 loss to Puerto Rico. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Miami. Was a late injury scratch in Austin's 2-0 win over El Paso in the US Open Cup.Tom Gray - Pittsburgh (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-0 win over Bermuda. Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 2-0 loss to Richmond.Andrew Gregor - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 3-0 loss to Cleveland. Started and played 120 minutes, recording an assist in Rochester's 2-1 win over Cleveland in the US Open Cup.Willy Guadarrama - Austin Aztex U-23 (PDL) - Did not appear in either of Austin's games this past week (3-1 win over West Texas and 2-0 win over El Paso).Pat Healey - Baltimore (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes, getting an assist in Baltimore's 2-1 win over Wilmington.Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 0-0 draw in Portland. Did not dress in Carolina's 2-0 loss to Minnesota. Started and played 120 minutes, recording an assist in Carolina's 3-3 draw with Wilmington, that they lost 4-3 on PKs in the US Open Cup.Pete Marino - Treasure Coast Galleons (FESL) - Started and had a goal and an assist for Treasure Coast in their 3-0 win over Orlando FC.Ryan McMahen - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 4-1 loss to Puerto Rico. Started and played 45 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Miami. Started and played 64 minutes, scoring a goal in Austin's 2-0 win over El Paso in the US Open Cup.Ryan Pore - Portland - Out due to injury.Eric Quill - Houston Leones (PDL) - Did not dress in either of Houston's 1-1 draw with Laredo.Michael Todd - Long Island Roughriders (PDL) - Started and played 62 minutes, recording an assist in Long Island's 3-1 win over Rhode Island. Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Long Island's 3-0 win over New Jersey.Yomby William - Richmond (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 loss to Real Maryland. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Pittsburgh.John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Miami in the US Open Cup.

InternationalChris Konopka - Longford Town - Ireland - Longford drew with Wexford Youths 2-2 on Sunday. Konopka did not play in the return leg that Longford won 3-2.Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - I've been told that Ryan Raybould is retiring from playing and returning to school.Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Started and played 90 minutes in Aalesunds 1-0 loss Viking.Antti Sumiala - FC Porin Palloilijat - Came off the bench and played 31 minutes, recording an assist in PoPa's 5-1 win over TP-47.Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Quindío did not qualify for the group stage playoffs of the Apertura season of the Copa Mustang.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Sunday in St. Louis, the Wizards open SuperLiga play against Mexican side and sister club, Atlas. Those expecting to see some of "Los Rojinegros" first team players, may be in for a bit of disappointment. According to Atlas' manager, Ricardo Lavolpe, Atlas will be sending younger players that are looking to break through this season with the Atlas first team. The Atlas first team will remain in Guadalajara to prepare for the upcoming Mexican league season.

Definitely disappointing news for the integrity of the tournament, because even though I'm sure that Atlas' young team they are bringing will play well, there's a certain expectation to be able to see how the Wizards and MLS will do against the first team.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Wizards now know their opponent in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup. Tonight, the Minnesota Thunder defeated the Chicago Fire PDL team 4-0 tonight in Blaine, MN, setting up a 3rd round match up on June 30th at the National Sports Center in Blaine, MN. The game will kickoff at 7:05pm central time. The game will come 2 days after the Wizards play their last game of SuperLiga in KC against Santos Laguna.

This will be the second time the Wizards have seen the Thunder this season, as the two met in the Wizards final preseason game of the season up in Cedar Rapids, IA. This will be the first competitive game these two teams have played against each other since the Thunder's 3-1 win in the 2005 US Open Cup, so the Wizards will have a chance at revenge this year.

Time for this week's player interview poll. With a good performance against the Revolution, it was hard to pick just 3 players to put in the poll, so this week we have 5 players to choose from.

Herculez Gomez - Gomez has a strong game, helping create 2 of the 3 goals against the Revs.Aaron Hohlbein - Scored his second goal of the season.Jack Jewsbury - Strong performance in central midfield.Davy Arnaud - Scored his 5th goal of the season.Josh Wolff - No goals, but once again, Wolff's off the ball running did well to create space.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Davy Arnaud's hard charging run and give and go with Claudio Lopez led to the Wizards first goal against the Revolution this past weekend. That goal is now up for Goal of the Week this week. It's got some pretty stiff competition this week.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Aaron Hohlbein's goal last night, was the Wizards 699th in all competitions, the Wizards next goal will be their 700th in all competitions.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 37th in league play for the Wizards, breaking a tie with Josh Wolff for third place on that list. He's 2 goals behind Chris Klein for second.

Josh Wolff's 104th appearance for the Wizards in league playing, breaking a tie with Digital Takawira for 18th place on that list.

Also Wolff's 97th start for the Wizards in league play, tying him wtih Sasha Victorine for 15th on that list.

Wolff's 106th start in all competitions for KC, breaking the tie with Bo Oshoniyi for 15th on the all time starts list.

In the 73rd minute, Wolff passed Chris Brown to move into 16th place on the list of most minutes played in all competitions for the Wizards. He finished the game with 9,474 minutes played.

10 minutes later, in the 83rd minute, Wolff passed Sasha Victorine to move into 15th place on the list of the most league minutes played for the Wizards, Wolff finished the game with 8,627 minutes played for KC.

Jack Jewsbury's 110th start for the Wizards ties him wtih Jose Burciaga Jr. for 10th place on that list.

Jewsbury's 170th appearance in all competitions for the Wizards, ties him with Mo Johnston for 8th on the all time list.

In the 78th minute, Jimmy Conrad hit the 15,000 minute mark for KC in league play.

When New England defender Emmanuel Osei received a red card in the 31st minute of last night's game between KC and New England the cheers from the crowd were joined with a few groans. As I've mentioned earlier, the Wizards have struggled to score when they're a man up. Last night, the Wizards finally did it, taking advantage of the man up to score 2 more goals and defeat the Revolution 3-1.

Kansas City started off strong, with Herculez Gomez forcing a strong save out of Matt Reis early in the first half. New England's early trips into the Wizards end led to some long throw ins that the Wizards did well to clear out. The way the game was going, an early goal was certainly coming, and in the 19th minute, the Wizards found the net. Davy Arnaud made a hard charging run, playing a give and go with Claudio Lopez. On the return from Lopez, Arnaud one touched the ball into the net ahead of New England midfielder, Pat Phelan. The lead didn't last long, as New England was able to get forward and earn a corner. Jay Heaps put a good shot on goal from the corner that was well saved by Kevin Hartman. Stever Ralston played the rebound from the shot to the back post where Sharlie Joseph met it, heading it past Hartman and leveling the score. Three minutes after the goal, Osei picked up his red card for retaliating to a foul commited by Lopez. Osei kicked out at Lopez and after Lopez got in Osei's face, Osei pushed the former Argentine international, earning the red card.

Five minutes after the red card, the Wizards took advantage. Herculez Gomez ran onto a great ball into the box. Gomez's original shot was saved by Reis, but the rebound deflected off midfielder, Jeff Larentowicz and into the net to give the Wizards the lead again. Unlike previous games when being a man up and going up a goal, the Wizards actually put the proverbial foot on the Revs throat and came down the field again and scored a 3rd goal only 3 minutes after the 2nd. A Lopez corner kick was flicked on net by Josh Wolff. Reis did well to punch the first shot away. Jimmy Conrad, though, headed the punch back in front of net, where Aaron Hohlbein had made a late run in and tapped the ball into the net to give the Wizards a 3-1 lead. KC shut down the Revolution for the rest of the first half and were comfortably into the half up 3-1.

In the second half, the Wizards continued to put pressure on the 10 man Revolution in the second half, creating more chances to try and extend their lead. Unfortunatley, Jack Jewsbury, Lopez, and Wolff all missed chances to make it 4-1. Lopez had what would have been a goal called back for being offside on a very close play. In the end, the Wizards never scored their 4th goal, but it wasn't needed, as the Revolution offense didn't really threaten KC's goal much in the second half. This as a whole was one of the best performances the Wizards have put together, Jewsbury, Gomez, Santiago Hirsig and others all had good games last night.

Wizards Man of the Match - Herculez Gomez - Gomez had a very good game last night, he was all over the field and was able to create multiple chances, including starting the play that led to Arnaud's goal and creating the own goal.

Friday, June 12, 2009

If you don't get enough live soccer from tomorrow night's Wizards game and are looking for something to do on Sunday afternoon, there's a a tournament going on down at the Little Blue Trace/Raytown Soccer club fields. This weekend is a big Kenyan tournament in Kansas City, with teams from all over the United States coming to KC to compete in the tournament. It should be a high level of competition for the tournament. I've personally played against a few of the players on the Kansas City Kenyan team and they is some definite talent on the team. Saturday the tournament starts at 10am, while on Sunday the games begin at noon. So if you're looking for more soccer on Sunday, definitely make your way to Little Blue Trace and check it out.

The Wizards stay at home and play New England this week, in their last league game until the 4th of July, with SuperLiga and Open Cup games coming up. This game with New England will be the Wizards first of 3 meetings in the span of a month against the Revolution. Two of those meetings will be in league play, while the 3rd will be in SuperLiga. New England will be without Taylor Twellman, the reigning MLS player of the week. He is still suffering from some post concussion syndrome symptoms.

The Wizards come into the game without a win since defeating Salt Lake 2-0 almost a month ago. A win tomorrow is needed to go into the upcoming league break with some momentum. A loss this weekend could see KC fall all the way down to 6th. The regular 3 injured players (Adam Cristman, Eric Kronberg, and Chance Myers) are joined on the injury list this week by Jimmy Conrad, Claudio Lopez, and Santiago Hirsig. All 3 of those guys practiced yesterday and looked to be just fine. I'd expect all 3 of them to still be in the lineup come Saturday. Usually after loses, Coach Onalfo likes to make some changes to the lineup to try and make up for the errors this previous week. Having been out to practice this week, though, I don't know if we'll see any changes to last week's lineup.

Key Match Up - Jimmy Conrad vs Shalrie Joseph - With Twellman not traveling to KC this week, it likely means that Joseph will take up his emergency role as a striker again this weekend. He's a big, strong bodied, player and will be a handful for Conrad to cover not just in open play, but on set pieces as well.

PREDICTION - The away team has traditionally done pretty well in this series, going 9-3-7 since 2003. Of the 3 wins by home teams in this series, KC has 2 of them, one coming last year late in the season. New England comes in after 2 home wins, including a 4-0 dismantling of New York. A win is needed by KC or they risk falling behind in league play while they are playing in the SuperLiga. Unfortunately with the game at the small confines of CAB and the way the team has played lately I have trouble seeing a win.

With soccer fans not just in KC, but around the US now talking about the new stadium renderings for the Wizards, the facility seems more realistic now to some. For that all to get built, though, the buildings currently there need to come down. It looks like the mall itself could be down within the next two weeks or so. The crew has basically ripped out the entire inside of Sears and is working on the outside now. Here is the full album for this week.

The other information comes from the All-Access articles that the KC Star has been doing this week. In today's article, Ryan Young with the Star spent the day following technical director Peter Vermes. Over the course of the day, we find that Vermes is busy listening to deals from around the league with none really striking his interest. We also hear that he has plenty of videos of players in foreign leagues that Vermes may be interested in. Two of the players mentioned in the article, are a Spanish mid-level player, and a player from Hungary that Vermes saw last year on his trip to Eastern Europe. Whether these two will come to anything is unknown, but it appears that Vermes wants to bring them in on a trail to at least see how they could do. So there could be some roster shakeups coming.

This week's player interview poll winner was forward, Abe Thompson, who came off the bench and played 30 minutes in the Wizards 2-0 loss to Columbus. Yesterday after the scrimmage against the Des Moines Menace, Thad caught up with Thompson and was able to get this week's interview. Thompson talked about getting into the game last week. He also talked about how he's keeping his focus waiting for his opportunity to get into games. He also talked about the upcoming game against New England as well. Enjoy the interview.

The draw for the third round of the US Open Cup was held today. Whoever the Wizards play, they'll have a chance for revenge on a team that knocked them out of the competition in previous years. Kansas City will play the winner of next Tuesday's game between the Chicago Fire PDL or the Minnesota Thunder. Those two teams meet Tuesday the 16th in Blaine, MN at 7:05 pm local time.

Should the Fire PDL team win, the Wizards would host them at Shawnee Mission North High School on Tuesday June 30th at 7:30 pm. The Fire PDL team played the Wizards to a 0-0 draw in the 2000 version of the Open Cup, and eventually prevailed on penalty kicks 7-6.

Should the Thunder win, the Wizards will travel up to Minnesota and play at the National Sports Center at 7:05 pm. The Thunder defeated the Wizards in the 2005 US Open Cup, 3-1 up in Parkville. The two teams also met this preseason up in Cedar Rapids, IA with the Wizards taking a match up against the first team 4-0. The reserves drew the Thunder 1-1.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

For those of you waiting for some up to date stadium renderings of the Wizards soccer specific stadium, you can now breath a bit of a sign of relief. On Lane4's site for the Trails development, they have posted some new renderings that look to be fairly official renderings of the facility. There are two photos of the new renderings, one and two. So those of you that were on the ledge wondering about the stadium and when we'd see renderings, take a deep breath and check out the photos.

Here's a first update on former Wizards for this week. There are 5 former Wizards that could be playing tonight in different games. Pat Healey and Byron Carmichael will likely take the field against each other tonight in the first round of the US Open Cup in a game being played tonight because of bad weather yesterday. There is also an MLS match tonight, as Houston hosts Chivas USA whose lineup could include Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, and Sasha Victorine. So there will be an update later to this post. We also welcome another former Wizard, Tom Gray, who the Wizards drafted in the 2008 Supplemental draft, is with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL-2.

MLSNick Garcia - San Jose Earthquakes - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 2-2 draw with Dallas, his last game with the Earthquakes, as he was traded to Toronto yesterday.Taylor Graham - Seattle Sounders FC - Out with a broken leg.Will Hesmer - Columbus Crew - Out with injury for the Crew.Chris Klein - LA Galaxy - Started and played 66 minutes in LA's 2-1 win over Toronto on Saturday.Yura Movsisyan - Real Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in RSL's 1-1 tie with Colorado.Brandon Prideaux - Chicago Fire - Started and played 87 minutes in Chicago's 1-0 loss to Houston.Carey Talley - Chivas USA - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Houston on Wednesday.Shavar Thomas - Chivas USA - Started and played 70 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss to Houston on Wednesday.Dave van den Bergh - FC Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-2 draw with San Jose.Sasha Victorine - Chivas USA - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 loss on Wednesday to Houston.Tyson Wahl - Seattle Sounders FC - Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 loss to Chivas.

USLStephen Armstrong - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 2-0 win over Austin on Friday, he's recovering from injury. Also did not dress in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Austin on Sunday. Did not dress for Charleston's 2-0 win over Atlanta FC in the US Open CUp.Vicente Arze - Vancouver - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Vancouver's 2-1 loss to Montreal.Byron Carmichael - Ocean City Barons (PDL) - Started and played 82 minutes in Ocean City's 2-0 loss to Ottawa. Started for Ocean City and scored 2 goals in Ocean City's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace Baltimore in the first round of the US Open Cup.Ryan Caugherty - Austin - Started and played 45 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Charleston on Friday. Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Charleston on Sunday. Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over Mississippi in the first round of the US Open Cup.Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress for Minnesota in their 0-0 draw with Rochester. Did not dress in Minnesota's 3-2 win over 402 in the first round of the US Open Cup.AJ Godbolt - Austin - Started and played 45 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Charleston on Friday. Started and played 60 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Charleston on Sunday. Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over Mississippi in the US Open Cup.Tom Gray - Pittsburgh (USL2) - The Riverhounds did not have a league game this week. Started and played 120 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-1 draw with Rochester, that they lost 4-2 on PKs in the first round of the US Open Cup.Andrew Gregor - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochesteer's 0-0 draw with Minnesota. Came in off the bench and played 41 minutes and converted a PK in the penalty shootout in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh that they won in PKs 4-2.Willy Guadarrama - Austin Aztex U-23 (PDL) - Did not dress in Austin's 5-1 win over Houston or their 3-3 draw with DFW. Word is he's been called up by FC Dallas as a guest player for their friendly tonight.Pat Healey - Baltimore (USL2) - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes, scoring a goal in CPB's 2-1 loss to Western Mass. Started for Crystal Palace in their 3-0 loss to Ocean City in the first round of the US Open Cup.Amir Lowery - Carolina - Carolina did not have a league game this week. Started and played 90 minutes last night in Carolina's 2-1 win over Richmond in the first round of the US Open Cup.Pete Marino - Treasure Coast Galleons (FESL) - Did not play this weekend in Treasure Coast's 2-2 draw wtih Miami FC Pumas.Ryan McMahen - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Charleston on Friday. Started and played 60 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Austin's 1-1 draw with Charleston on Sunday. Dressed but did not play in Austin's 2-0 win over Mississippi in the US Open Cup.Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 74 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over Montreal. Pore has also sufferred a torn MCL and will miss 4-6 weeks. Did not play in Portland's 3-0 win over Kitsap in the first round of the US Open Cup.Eric Quill - Houston Leones (PDL) - Did not dress in either of Houston's games this week (5-1 loss to Austin, 1-0 loss to West Texas.).Michael Todd - Long Island Roughriders (PDL) - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in Long Island's 2-0 win over New Jersey.Yomby William - Richmond (USL2) - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 5-0 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Carolina in the first round of the US Open Cup.John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 2-0 win over Austin on Friday. Dressed but did not play on Sunday in Charleston's 1-1 draw with Austin. Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Charleston's 2-0 win over Atlanta FC in the first round of the US Open Cup.

InternationalChris Konopka - Longford Town - Ireland - Did not dress in Longford's 3-2 win over Kildare County.Ryan Raybould - Gefle IF FF - Sweden - The Swedish league is off until July 4th.Scott Sealy - Maccabi Tel Aviv - Israel - The Israeli season is over.Khari Stephenson - Aalesunds FK - Norway - Norweigen league is off this week due to World Cup Qualifiers.Antti Sumiala - FC Porin Palloilijat - Started and played 60 minutes in PoPa's 1-0 win over FC KooTeePee.Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Quindío did not qualify for the group stage playoffs of the Apertura season of the Copa Mustang.

The KC Wizards and Swope Park Rangers took part in a scrimmage today against PDL side, the Des Moines Menace today at the Swope Park training complex. Unfortunately I didn't find out about the game until after it had already started so I missed the beginning of the game. In the first half though, the Wizards starters (minus Santiago Hirsig who was rested due to a minor injury) played against the Menace. Here's the lineup that the Wizards put out.

Before I arrived, Davy Arnaud had apparently scored to make it 1-0 Wizards. While I was there, the Wizards were dominating the play, with it deep in the Menace end for much of the first half. A foul outside the box by the Menace set up the second goal of the game. On the free kick, Claudio Lopez stepped on the ball sliding it backwards into the path of Jack Jewsbury who shot with plenty of power into the far side netting to double the lead. Jewsbury appeared to have a second goal later in the first half, but had it waived off due to offside.

In the second half, the Wizards completely changed up their roster, as the Swope Park Rangers came in and played the second half. Here's the lineup that started the second half.

With the Rangers on the field, they continued to dominate the PDL side, but could not put multiple chances away. Many of the reserves chances came from long distant shots that ended up being over the goal. Eventually, though, the Rangers made it 3-0, through Graham Zusi. Michael Harrington headed down a cross from the right into the path of Zusi who one touched his shot into the side netting to make it 3-0. Zusi was once again in on the scoring on the 4th goal off a corner. Zusi played in an excellent corner into the path of Abe Thompson, who powered his header past the Des Moines keeper to make it 4-0. While they didn't produce any more goals, the Rangers dominated the rest of the game, producing more corners and shots, but unable to put any of them away.

Monday, June 08, 2009

The Wizards Juniors teams recently finished up playing in the Kansas State Cup tournament. Of the 6 Juniors' teams that competed, 5 came away as state champions, with the 6th team finishing as runners up. The U13 Juniors team outscored their opponents 25-4 on route to their state title this year. The U15 Juniors team won their quarterfinal 2-0 then moved onto a big 10-0 win in their semifinal game. They pulled out another 2-0 win in the state finals to claim the title. The U-16 Juniors, who lost in the semifinals last year made it one step further this year, making it to the finals, but ended up losing to KCFC Rangers 2-1 in the finals. The U-17 Juniors team were able to defend their state title they won as U-16s, defeating KCFC Strikers (the same team they defeated last year) in the finals 1-0. In their 4 team group, the U-18 Juniors team were able to defender their state title, winning their semifinal 8-3, and the final 3-0 over KCFC Athletics. Like last year, the Juniors has a U-19 team competing in State Cup as well. Like last year, they only had to win 1 game to win the state title beating KCFC Challenger 3-2 in the final.

Saturday night was the fourth time this season that the Wizards have played a man up this season. In those 4 games, the Wizards have spent 229 minutes a man up. That's over 2 and a half games being up a man! In those 229 minutes, the Wizards have scored a total of 3 goals. And given up 2. The old adage is that teams down a man play better because they're forced to focus more. Still playing 2 and a half games up a man, you would expect the Wizards to be able to wear teams down and score more than just 3 goals.

The most glaring example of this, is the game earlier this year against New York. The Red Bulls got a red card in only the second minute, and yet the Wizards couldn't get anything other than the PK they got on the same call that produced the red card. In fact in parts of that game (and the game against Seattle), the Wizards looked like they were the team that was playing a man down.

Up until last week, the Wizards lack of putting the opponent under had not cost the Wizards point. But last week in LA it finally did. The Wizards were a man up for 31 minutes against the LA Galaxy, and could only score the one goal. That ended up costing them when they gave up an equalizer 4 minutes before the end of the game. This past Saturday, the Wizards inability to score a man up cost them again. A man up for almost 40 minutes, the Wizards could not score against the Crew defense, and when they gave up a PK while down a man, the game was basically over. On the small field at CAB, the Crew were able to close off all space and get compact in the box to keep the Wizards from getting a goal.

It's frustrating seeing the Wizards play up a man so much so far this season and struggle to create dangerous chances and put balls in the net. The struggle to do this in the past two games could end up costing the team later in the season.

Time for you to vote on who you would like to see interviewed this week. Here are your choices for this week:

Kevin Hartman - Another man of the match worthy match for the Wizards' goalkeeper.Abe Thompson - Came off the bench and set up probably the Wizards best chance against the Crew.Graham Zusi - Rookie is starting to make his way back onto the field.

Remember to vote both here and on The Back Post. Post your questions in the comments section.

The Swope Park Rangers won again today, defeating the KC Brass 6-0 today. The lineup today was made up of all the players that didn't start yesterday against the Crew along with a few guest players. Here's the way the Rangers lined up to start the game:

Both teams started off the game fairly even, with the game going back and forth. The best early chance fell to the Brass when they ended up hitting the post on one trip down the field. The Rangers also hit the post, as Abe Thompson tried to curl the ball into the far post, but it hit the cross bar and bounced out. The reserves finally broke through with Matt Marquess. Marquess worked the ball down the left, and played a ball into Michael Kraus. Kraus played the ball back to Marquess as he ran across the top of the box. Marquess' shot went into the far post to give the Rangers the lead. Marquess was involved in doubling the lead soon after. Marquess received the ball out wide on the left and played a ball into the box, where Kevin Souter ran onto the ball, beatting the keeper to the ball and making it 2-0. Right before halftime, Thompson got in alone in the box with the keeper. As Thompson tried to round the Brass keeper, Thompson was brought down, leading to a penalty kick. Thompson stepped up and put the PK away making it 3-0 at the half.

The second half saw the Rangers continue to dominate the game, but it took a little while into the second half before they added a fourth goal. The fourth goal came after a bit of a scramble in front of net. The ball was finally put away by Kraus. Marquess continued his good game by adding a second goal, and a 5th for the Rangers with a strike from about 30 yards after a partial clearance. Kurt Morsink finished off the scoring for the reserves with another strike from distance that he hit in off the post.

While the score doesn't show it, it was the best of the three performances I've seen the Brass play against the Rangers this season.

Despite having 17 shots last night, and being a man up for almost 40 minutes, the Wizards were unable to score and ended up losing to the Columbus Crew 2-0, meaning the Crew sweep the season series with the Wizards. The Wizards came out trying to push the game and were able to get into dangerous positions, but either wouldn't pull the trigger and shot, or pulled their shots wide. The Crew picked their attacking moments, and capitalized on a come cluster f*ck by the Wizards back line. A long clearance deep into the Wizards end bounced once and was heading into the box. Two Wizards defenders and Kevin Hartman all converged on the ball. Hartman calls the 2 defenders off, but both collide with Hartman. The ball fell to Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who had an open net to just slot the ball into to give the Crew the lead. The Wizards continued to get some chances, but they all were blocked by Crew defenders before they got to Andy Gruenebaum in the Crew net.

In the second half, the Crew pushed early to try and get a second, with Emmanuel Ekpo forcing a good save out of Hartman. In the 51st minute, the game took a turn, as Chad Marshall kneed Aaron Holbein, earning him a straight red card. The knee came after Hohlbein had basically been hugging Marshall in the box to keep him from getting by, but it was the knee that referee, Baldomero Toledo, called. A man up, the Wizards tried to push the game more, but still weren't producing many quality chances. In the 63rd minute, the Wizards dug themselves deeper, when Matt Besler was called for a foul on Eddie Gaven in the box, giving the Crew a PK. The penalty was boarder line, as Gaven jumped into the ball, and was very close to not even being in the box when contact was initiated. Unfortunately for the Wizards, the Schelotto stepped up and buried the PK to give the Crew a 2-0 lead.

At this point, the game completely changed. The Crew were more than happy to sit back and defend their 2 goal lead, getting numbers back into the box. At times all 9 field players were back inside their own penalty area. The Wizards were getting the ball and playing in cross after cross and playing around the top of the box trying to break open the Crew defense, but they held firm. Most of the chances the Wizards did get ended up being blocked by Crew defenders on their way in, although Gruenebaum did come up with some good saves as well, and was helped out by the wood work when a Josh Wolff shot banged back into play off the crossbar. In the end, the Wizards were unable to break through the Columbus defense and fell to the defending champs 2-0, losing the season series. A frustrating performance all around by the Wizards team tonight, as they struggled to get quality chances and seemed hesitant to shoot at times.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kevin Hartman - Can't fault him on either goal. You watch the highlights and you clearly hear him yell "keep" as a warning to his players to get out of the way of the ball, but neither did. He only made 1 real save, but with the way the rest of the team seemed frustrated and without much creative thought against the bunkering Crew, Hartman will get the man of the match award.